Paedo Neighbour Abused Us Both

Sickening secret kept for over a decade .

Sisters tried to protect each other.

Finally, the girls got justice.

- Angela Johnson

Leisha Williams, 25,

Birmingham

Skipping, playing tag, riding bikes… As a kid, the summer evenings seemed endless.

I was 10, my sister Amy was 7, and we’d enjoyed a carefree childhood in our quiet, suburban cul-de-sac.

That year – 2004 – Alan Goodwin, then 45, and his wife moved into the house opposite. 

I’d taken no notice of the couple until my parents became friendly with them. But, soon, Amy and I tagged along to theirs most Friday nights.

I trusted him

At first, it was fun. Alan was funny, always joking and friendly. Sometimes, he’d pick me up, give me cuddles on his lap. I trusted him.

Alternating weekend get-togethers, our place was always bustling. The house full, you’d often bump into someone or other on the landing.

Only, one night, aged 12, I came out of my bedroom and, suddenly, Alan appeared.

In one swift, terrifying movement, he shoved his hand down the front of my knickers.

‘You need to shave your pubes,’ he leered at me.

I froze, too shocked and embarrassed to respond. But, downstairs, Alan acted like nothing’d happened.

I’d no idea about sex, had never even kissed a boy. So maybe what he did was normal..?

There was no avoiding Alan. He was often at ours, hovering on the landing.

‘You’re beautiful,’ he said to me one time, while probing my private parts.